Week in Review – 6 June 2009

Tools

• MemoryUp Pro, Memory And Ram Optimizer Reviewed – Review of eMobiStudio‘s MemoryUp application for Symbian-powered smartphones.
• Free LogParser.Email Log Parser Built with VB.NET 2005 – Free application for processing log files written in VB.NET 2005.
• SQL Server 2005 Replication Enhancements – Updates to the replication monitor, pre-computed partitions, updates to unique keys, transactional parallelism, managed replication, and more.
• Apache JMeter 2.3.3 has been updated to version 2.3.3 – Test closedown, HTTP Cookie handling, saving JDBC results, and much more all improved.
• AirMagnet Receives Networking Award for their WiFi Analyzer – Monitors the performance of WiFi networks and assists with problem detection and resolution.
• Review of SQL Server Performance and Monitoring Tools – Lists the tools, how they can be used, and what data is available from each. Nice overview for those wanting to learn what performance monitoring options are available for SQL Server.
• Load Testing an Oracle database with OATS (Oracle Application Test Suite) – Alex Amat discusses how OATS can be used for more than just testing Oracle applications. Very nice article with lots of pictures and source code.
• TaskInfo v9.0 Released by IARSN Company – Replacement for Windows built-in Task Manager. Provides performance analysis graphs of processes, resources, and much more.
• Alchemy Network Monitor 10.1 Released – Inexpensive monitor for detecting network problems.
• JavaOne: Tolls and Utilities for Debugging the JVM – Lists a number of tools including one for visually monitoring garbage collection.
• An IPerf and JPerf Testing Procedure Example – Describes a procedure with these tools to find the performance of a Point to Point connection.
• Everest Ultimate Edition 4.6 Free – Software Updated to Version 5.02 – Windows performance and system information tool including overclocking info, diagnostics, and benchmarking.
• D-Link updates Desktop Widget for monitoring 802.11N Wi-Fi Routers – Widgets for Yahoo!, Vista, and Mac Dashboard updated for monitoring 802.11n Wi-Fi routers

Information

• The speed, size and dependability of programming languages – A great article showing various programming languages and how they relate to each other based on speed, size and dependability
• The Computer Language Benchmarks Game – Programming language measurements.
• Java Software used to monitor performance of LincVolt – How’s that for a cool use of Java technology!
• Performance Tuning is a Dynamic Process – Article discusses Dynamics AX specifically, but is a good read about the the tuning processing and why it is not predictable.
• Tata Communications launches Application Performance Visibility Service – Suite of integrated tiiered service options for monitoring system performance.
• David Holmes on Java Real-Time Systems – Interview by Steve Haines of InformIT Java Reference Guide before the 2009 JavaOne conference.
• Breaking Through JVM Memory Limits – Gil Tene is interviewed about memory issues by Frank Sommers.
• Kirk Pepperdine demonstrates performance pitfalls – Kirk shows why blind performance improvements don’t necessarily result in better system performance. Two examples are given both of which are common pitfalls developers fall into when trying to improve code.
• Larry Ellison says Oracle will pour money into Java – At JavaOne Larry Ellison said they have a huge investment on the technology. He admitted that everything they do that sits above the database is written in Java. They will be investing heavily and are most interested in its continued improvement.
• Tools for Monitoring Synchronization Waits in Java – Nice discussion on the Java Performance Professionals LinkedIn group about how to monitor thread contention and sychronization waits in Java.
• The Trouble with Troubleshooting – Discusses the problem of network monitoring and why tools never quite meet the challenge.

Why Performance Test

• Performance issues cost Simson Confections $3.2 million – Downtime results in lost revenue. Doing proper performance testing can find these problems before they become a boardroom statistic.
• What went wrong with Nokia’s Ovi Store Launch – Yet another example where proper QA and Performance Testing would have avoided launch problems.

Jobs

• Database Administrator in Knoxville TN – Contract positions working on Oracle/SQL Server databases. Requires understanding of performance monitoring and tuning.
• Senior QA Analyst in Chicago Available – Jaffar Sheik’s Resume
• Flex Java – Performance Testing Engineers – Position in Central London
• Oracle Data Analyst in Chicago, IL – Senior Data Architect and Data Modeler needed who understands performance tuning and trading or financial exchange systems.

Miscellaneous

• Benchmark Your Browser – Tool that runs tests to determine how well various browsers run on your system. Figure out which one is the fastest for you.

Books

• High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers
• Even Faster Web Sites: Performance Best Practices for Web Developers